It’s often said you should never meet your heroes, but Helen Monks would no doubt disagree.

When the actress encountered columnist Caitlin Moran at a book signing, instead of walking away disappointed, she managed to land a major role in the How to Be a Woman author’s semi-autobiographical sitcom Raised By Wolves.

Helen, whose previous credits include voicing Pip on The Archers, explains: “I was totally in love with Caitlin Moran and she was doing an event, in conversation with Stuart Maconie, at Birmingham Literature Festival.

“Although I’m from Birmingham I was at uni in Sheffield at the time and I couldn’t decide if it was mad to travel back home for one night only. But, love conquers all, so I went.”

She continues: “During the event, Caitlin mentioned she was penning a sitcom with her sister Caz, and so when I went to get my book signed at the end I told her, ‘I should totally play you,’ and unbelievably she said, ‘Yes! You should!’

“She wrote down her email address in my copy of Moranthology. I remember having to have several calming baths that evening to lower my blood pressure before sending the 16th draft of an email to her.

“She replied, ‘Dude, I’ve already Googled you and sent you over to the producers.’ I remember it being a long time before I could come down from standing on the sofa.”

Following an audition in a fat suit she’d borrowed from her brother (“I’m not as big as Caitlin was at 15, which I was worried would cost me the part”), Helen had the job.

For those who maybe aren’t quite so devoted to Moran or didn’t see the 2013 pilot, Raised By Wolves is partly inspired by Caitlin and her sister Caroline’s own unconventional childhood in Wolverhampton.

Helen plays Germaine, the eldest of the Garry children, who isn’t going to let being overweight and skint dent her self-esteem.

According to the actress: “She has this unshatterable sense of entitlement. She believes she is so beautiful, so clever, so funny, and therefore – she is.

"I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to play a 15-year-old girl who genuinely loves herself.

“And knowing what Caitlin went on to achieve I think it’s a really positive message that undying, delusional self-belief can get you places, and how you don’t have to come from privilege to believe in your right to privilege.”

London-based Caitlin Moran who became a columnist for The Times at the age of 18 says of the estate where she grew up: “It may not have looked glamorous, but it was a place where you could live and grow and pursue your interests.”

Raised By Wolves gave the Moran sisters the chance not only to celebrate Wolverhampton, but to challenge the representation of the working class on shows such as Benefits Street and Shameless.

“You never see the working classes turning inwards and having a rich inner life [on TV],” says Moran.

In the first episode, it seems the only place Germaine’s self-belief is taking her is the local common, where survivalist mum Della (Rebekah Staton) encourages the kids to forage for free food.

The trip doesn’t go to plan though, as Germaine would much rather get close to the boy of her dreams than nature, while her sister Yoko (Molly Risker) reaches a female milestone in the bushes.

Still, it could be worse – they could be getting an unwanted insight into their grandfather’s (Philip Jackson) love life like their sibling Aretha (Alexa Davies).